General Motors presented on Monday an updated viability plan that will lay off more US workers.

GM's hourly workers will be shed by 7,000 more than outlined in the February plan, from 61,000 to 40,000 by 2010. Salaried employees are also expected to be cut further.

GM, surviving on US$15.4 billion in US loans and seeking more, launched a very dilutive debt-for-stock exchange offer for US$27 billion of its unsecured bonds. If the swap is successful, bondholders will own about 10 percent of the company. If not, it will file for bankruptcy protection.

As part of the revised viability plan, GM in the US will focus its resources on four core brands, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. The Pontiac brand will be phased out by the end of 2010.

The file photo taken on April 15, 2009 shows the GM logo outside the GM headquarters in Detroit, the United States. General Motors announced restructuring plans on April 27, 2009, to cut 23,000 US jobs by 2011, drop its storied Pontiac brand and slash 40 percent of its dealer network in its latest bid to stay out of bankruptcy. [Xinhua]